It Takes Money to Love the Kids

There are a lot of good reasons to start your own daycare business. Its a great way to be your own boss and have a business you run from your home. It can be a very profitable enterprise if you run it well and take good care of the kids so the parents want to bring them back and recommend you. And, above all, it lets you do the one thing you love to do, love the children for a living.

But any new business takes money to get started. To operate a quality day care, you need a facility that is dedicated to taking care of a large number of kids. That facility must be professional, well equipped with the toys as well as the physical equipment you will need to care for the children such as beds or cribs, medical supplies, rockers, etc. And you will need some trained staff on hand to make sure everything runs smoothly. Add to that licensing fees and the daily expenses (snacks and beverages for example) and before long you have a budget that will have to be addressed when you start a new business.

How to get funding for your new day care is a similar challenge that any new business faces. Start up costs are a big challenge with a new venture and finding that funding probably the biggest obstacle between the dream of running your own day care and the reality of seeing that happen. So once you make that determination that you are going to " go for it" and try to open your own day care, there are two steps that will make it official and get you moving on that path to finding the backers you need.

First of all, find and get to know your local chapter of the small business association. These people can be lifesavers for any entrepreneur like yourself that has a dream but little detail on how to go about getting your daycare business off the ground. Very often the small business administration at the local level will have volunteers who are often retired business people with a track record of success who would love nothing more than to help you find the funding you need. They will also have free classes, brochures and most importantly, some contacts that you can take advantage of to start networking your way to " the money."

The small business administration will guide you in what is easily the biggest step you must take be taken seriously not only as a qualified day care provider but as a business person that a financial institution might consider loaning to. That step is writing your business plan. That sounds intimidating now but don't let it unnerve you. Your new friends at the small business administration can help you and there are lots of books and kits on how to write your business plan. Above all, this one step will go a long way toward helping you ask the right questions and know what other start up steps you must take before going for the funding you want. Give the process of writing a business plan plenty of attention and take your time. A good business plan can be the key to your success in starting your own day care if you take it seriously.

Once you are ready, there are lots of places to go to look for the funding you will need to get started. Banks and other financial institutions are actually quite open to giving you a small business loan to get you started. The thing they want to see when you apply for that loan is that you know what you are doing, that you have a real market to build your business from and that you will become profitable in a reasonable time frame so you can pay the loan back.

There are also grants and other resources you can tap to get that up front funding. So look around and make this step of finding the funding to start your day care business your passion for as long as it takes. Because once the funding is yours, you can actually start setting up the business and you will be on your way.

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